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Electronica
Electronica (also known as Electronic Music) is a globalized form of music that developed out of Alternative. As musicians began moving away from simpler pollyannaish themes of early popular Rock music and began experimenting with both drugs and new technology, the sound of Rock and Alternative began to change. At this point, Electronica parted company with Alternative, which went on to spawn genres like Punk rock and Grunge while Electronica became a new branch of popular music. Electronica features heavy uses of electronic instrumentation as its core feature. In this way, it differs from Rock, which utilizes primarily analogue instruments. Rock and Electronica share the use of amplification for instruments, but Electronica's instruments are either entirely digital, or some form of alteration to analogue instruments to make them sound quite unlike their rock equivalents. Vocals themselves are often somehow altered: A robotic sound is occasionally substituted for an actual human voice. Electronica's influences have been long felt throughout popular music, and the production techniques of the Genre have gone on to influence several new sub-genres, as well as re-influencing the production of Rock, which often includes electronica elements. Electronica has never gone out of style, even outliving some of its subgenres. History of the Genre Strictly speaking, any interaction between music and electricity can count as electronic music. In this way, Rock music was from the start electronic music. Recorded music needed to be amplified and transmitted through electronic devices to be recorded and preserved. But Electronica is music which is not merely amplified: It is transformed by electronics. The development of the electronic pickup for guitars, which meant that sound was created not through acoustic reverberation, but through electrical vibrations over magnetic plates, was the first innovation in electronica. After that, electronic pedals for the guitar, and the first electronic keyboards, organs and pianos moved Rock and Roll toward electronica. These were innovations which, in many cases predated even Rock, but they became a staple of Rock music in the early 3000s, as the Alternative Genre took off after 3000. Acid Rock and the Birth of Electronica The history of Electronica begins as Rock music was entering early adulthood. Alternative was seen as a progressive movement in Rock, abandoning the juvenile themes of early Rock music for more mature themes about social awakening, or living a more full life, on one hand, and alienation, struggle and malaise on the other. One major development in Alternative was the heavy use of psychedelic drugs, most especially LSD. During the early 3000s, the world was awash in these drugs, supplied by independent chemists, and national Cartels, like ODEN based in Kalistan. The genre Acid Rock was born and enjoyed tremendous popularity among the youth throughout Terra. As more and more artists used LSD, music began reflecting their states of mind. Musicians began looking for more interesting ways to make music, rather than just the standard 2 guitars, a bass and a drum. They began experimenting with the instruments they had on hand. Some would add pedal effects to their guitars, some would deliberately beat up their instruments and play the broken instruments. Others would experiment with computer manipulation of traditional instruments, to modulate the various frequencies coming from these instruments. As artists did so, they developed technology that provided their favorite effects regularly. First those were pedals which either greatly distorted or modified the sounds, but soon, they became integrated into the instruments themselves. The first true synthesizers became available in 3375, and were produced in Luthori. Electronica was born when bands first began using synthesized equipment to make music exclusively. Tom Davidson and "Power Tuning" 3374 There is some dispute about who the first proper electronica band is, or where the music was first recorded. One early record of note was the album "Power Tuning" by Luthori DJ Tom "Bones" Davidson. Davidson, who was working at the time as a proper disc jockey in a Luthori club, was also a computer hobbyist. In 3371, he acquired his first electric keyboard. Utilizing what he knew of computer technology, he modified the keyboard to play directly into a desk top computer, where he could record it. Davidson then learned enough about the keyboard that he figured out which modules in the keyboard's motherboard made the various sounds. He invented a tuning pot, using a adjustable resistor (the same technology used to tune radio receivers), which he could use to manipulate the sound coming from those modules. The first sound he produced was a click, which was recorded, and became a metronome of sorts. He set the beat for precisely 135 BPS, and then continued to tune the various resistors until he produced something that sounded like a heavily distorted guitar. The first song he recorded using this purely synthetic method of producing sounds on a keyboard was "Happy Birthday". Davidson was so impressed, he spent weeks developing new settings for his keyboard. It soon became impractical for him to use the keyboard itself, so he began modifying guitar pedals to produce these different sounds. Soon, Davidson could reproduce something like the sound of an entire five piece band. He and a friend, Don Cassini, then began building a new keyboard, with the pedal technologies, as well as gain dials built in for each of them, installed into a single integrated accessory for the keyboard. The new keyboard and integrated electronic component, which Davidson called a "Deck" was patented by Davidson and Cassini. Davidson used the new "synthesizer deck" to compose an entire album of covers of the songs he played at the Club. His covers record, "Power Tuning (3374)" was soon sent to a major record label in Luthori, who passed. In fact, every record label he sent his demo to passed on it. Davidson soon returned to his jobs as a DJ. "Power Tuning" was forgotten for nearly two decades, and the patented synthesizer deck, named the DCS-1, was only produced in a limited number, but it was a commercial failure. George Moore and "Everybody calls me Georgio", 3399 In 3398, 24 years after Davidson and Cassini invented the first synthesizer, 19 year old Luthori musician and DJ George Moore was handed a vinyl record of "Power Tuning". He had never heard of the record before, but as he had his full set for the evening already laid out for the night, he laid the record aside, and didn't think about it again. When he went home, he took the record with him absentmindedly. Upon reaching home, Moore discovered the record and put it on his turntable. He was immediately blown away by how advanced the record sounded. Here was a record of covers of music that was two and a half decades old, ancient in club years, and it sounded new and fresh. Moore became obsessed with the record immediately, and played it front to back the next night at the club. He was promptly fired. But the evangelist was now on a mission. Moore researched the Davidson and Cassini synthesizer, purchased one, at great personal expense, and began transferring his psychedelic compositions into a computer via the synthesizer. Over the next year, he recorded what is undisputedly the first Electronica album called "Everybody Calls Me Georgio" (frequently referred to as ECMG). ECMG was the beginning of Moore's brilliant career as a composer, musician and producer. ECMG sold more than 1 million copies in 3399 and Moore became the first true Electronica Artist. When Moore retired from performing after more than 30 years, he held one final concert, which he dedicated to and was joined on stage, by Tom Davidson, who played "Happy Birthday" on a by then-vintage DCS-1 synthesizer. It was the first time the two men met. By then, Electronica was firmly established in Luthori and other places like Kalistan, which fully embraced the art form. The Early Years of Electronica and Funk- 3400-3650 Electronica's early years began with modest success of artists who attempted to copy Moore's style. For more than 100 years, development in the genre occurred along with technological improvements to the original Davidson-Cassini Synthesizer. Within the span of Moore's 30 year career, the DCS had been significantly modified and redesigned no fewer than 9 times. Moore always said his favorite version was the DCS-4, and it was the one he used for all his recording sessions following its release. Most Electronica artists created popular music with their synthesizer. One of the marketing campaigns for the DCS-12 held that "...one man could be his own band" with the synthesizer. Any artist who could play the keyboard owned a DCS, and many of them attempted to make records with them. Electronica records therefore were mostly panned by most critics and consumers alike. Said one Mordusian critic of the genre in 3465: "This synthesized crap is bottom of the barrel stuff. Eddie Wizzurd artist being reviewed brings nothing new. He is barely competent on the machine, let alone qualified to make records. I have never heard such terrible sounds coming from an instrument so easy to play. Last year, I reviewed a 5 year old child's Electronica record, which I described as 'random gibberish caused by mashing keys to a beat.' Wizzurd doesn't even have half the talent of that neophyte. But, the problem is, dear reader, not Wizzurd. He is just the symptom. It is the whole music style, the entire genre is vapid and nonsensical garbage. I'll hope this year, as I did, that people will forget Electronica all together in the coming year and move on." Despite near ubiquitous criticism of the genre and a pretty solid dislike of it by a significant number of people exposed to it, Electronica continued to be made. It was, after all, and incredibly democratizing force in music, and freed hundreds of artists from some notion of "correctness" in music and music production. It wasn't until about 100 years following the release of "ECMG" that new developments in the genre allowed electronica to take hold in the larger population In 3487, a group of Kalistani R&B artists began making electronica, and fused it with dance and R&B genres, which they were familiar with. The result was Funk, named after the Vrassan province Funkistan, where the genre gained prominence. Early funk artists abandoned the high minded and progressive sensibilities of their predecessors, and to a large degree Moore's formulas. Instead, the funk artists began re-incorporating analogue instrumentation and recording techniques alongside synthesizers. Early Funk artists include The Jim Gray Band, Assembly Funkdaemonious, Rick James and Chaka Ming and Goofus. Modern funk includes Kalistani RF Funk band The Bootzillas Instead of allowing the synthesizer to do all the work of the band, it became just one of many instruments in an actual band. Funk was distinctive for its syncopated rhythm, slap-bass techniques, (where bass players would either hit the strings over the pickups to create a pop along with their notes, or would pluck the bass chords rather than strumming them,) extensive use of fuzz and delay pedals for guitars, and "wah" pedals that modulated pitch on the bass, and occasionally a brass section. The music was certainly meant to be dance music, which marked it as quite a distinct evolution in electronica. Funk became preferred by working class listeners, while electronica became preferred by middle and upper classes, especially those who considered themselves cultured music aficionados. Funk, which (was the dominant music played in clubs across northern Selaya, Keris and Dovani during the 150 years following its birth) traveled from Kalistan to other places in Terra, where it further evolved into Disco. For a long time, the funk scene existed along side the disco scene, but then funk went its own way, became much more heavily reliant on synthesizers and electronic guitars, and production, and lost a lot of the populist cred it enjoyed earlier. Proper funk descended into irrelevance in the nostalgia circuit, but was partially revitalized in Reggae, and was fully rediscovered by the RF scene as the dominant paradigm of the major subgenre RF Funk. The Disco Era 3650-3900 Disco was a development in Electronica that relied more heavily on the synthesizer to produce orchestration similar to classical music. The beat itself was far less syncopated than funk. Instead, it was meant as straight dance music, while funk was seen as more stylistic. Disco's incorporation of synthesized orchestration made funk's bass and brass characteristics superfluous, and they were promptly discarded from Disco music. Also, unlike funk, disco returned electronica to the production booth. Funk bands would often play and record live, while disco was created in a production studio, and the main artist was the producer, who would often create music for studio vocalists and other bit musicians. Consequently, disco was far less complex musically than funk, and represents something of a regression for the genre. It also made the music more accessible for millions and millions of listeners. The first disco records were produced for dance clubs in Dundorf, Luthori and other parts of Artania. Disco took control of the genre between between 3600 and 3900, and spread back around the world, almost completely replacing Funk's dominance in the clubs. Famous Discos featured DJs, open bars, where allowed by law, and frequent use of hard drugs. Most discos had a dance floor, and people performed popular dances of the era with and for others. The culture of the disco dictated that individuals would dress semi-formally: Men would frequently wear button down shirts and tight slacks and a sport coat, while women would wear floor-length dresses. Occasionally people would dress in a gaudy fashion, or in the gay clubs in Kalistan, not at all. In all discos, club goers would dance for hours on end. The non-stop dancing was often fueled by cocaine and other stimulants. One early Disco hit was performed by Joanna Winters in 3732. The record was the borderline pornographic 12-inch hit "I Wanna Luv Ya, Honey", and featured controversial sound effects of more than 37 female orgasms dubbed over the vocal track by the producer, who claimed he was trying to "sex up" the image of the devout Hosian singer. After protests from Winters' manager, a 6-inch single was released with only 3 of the sound effects in question. The single was the artist's biggest selling single. Other disco acts include The Brothers Girrard from New Endralon, The People from Kalistan, and The Funk Brothers from Ibutho. Notably, crossover artists regularly scored Disco hits, including the Glam Rock band Smack, who shocked diehard fans in 3877 when they released a disco hit called "You Was sic Made for my Loving." Disco turn a sudden turn in popularity in 3896. The music had been so ubiquitous in popular culture for so long that the critical animosity toward Electronic music returned with a vengeance. Critics blasted the unoriginality of the subgenre. Radio stations refused to play it anymore, and in various places across Terra, people held "Disco Sucks" rallies, where people were encouraged to bring their disco records to be burned. And people did so by the millions, most notable in Artania and Selaya, where disco had been dominant for so long. Disco did score minor hits in later years, but for the most part, after 3900, the subgenre was dead. The Rise of Hip Hop, 3750-Present As funk was being driven underground by the Producer, a new movement which was initially tied to urban centers rose. In this new movement, known as Hop Hop, the DJ first, and later the MC was king, or queen as was often the case. The earliest DJs took funk and disco records and mixed them together to create dance music for house and street Parties. Strictly speaking, Hip Hop fits into Electronica because of the manipulation that DJ's performed on the records they mixed. Often, DJ's would utilize back spin, record scratching and dual turntable techniques to strip out between one and 8 bars of some recorded song with no vocals, and produce a "getdown" beat to allow people to dance for an entire song's length of time. The Getdown also allowed guest MC's to sing-talk over the beat. The sing-talking was quickly replaced by MCs who just "rapped", or spoke in poetry, set to the meter of the getdown beat. These raps often involved bragadocio, or a discussion of some social issue faced by poor and working people in the inner cities. People who considered themselves urbane initially looked down on Hip Hop as a deviant form of art, but acceptance of Hip Hop slowly began to spread. By 3900, there was a thriving Hip Hop culture in most most major cities around Terra, and in Kalistan especially, Hip Hop was embraced, and developed alongside Reggae. Early Hip Hop artists included DJ Prodigy and the Reckless 6, Ibutho Nation, and MC Richard D and DJ Douglas Fresca, who performed one of the most influential Hip Hop songs of all time, "Tra-la La-La". In time, Hip Hop DJ's began producing their own music. They relied upon the easy access to music production that the synthesizer and the electronic drum machine provided. Many DJs eventually turned to producing, and began producing beats for established MCs to rap over. As hip hop beats grew more sophisticated, they moved beyond synthesizer and drum machines to live instruments and heavy use of samples that referenced earlier electronica music, like disco and funk. As sampling became more complex, Hip Hop collectives and bands formed. One of the most important bands to form was the Lodamese capital city of Port Golavia. The band was known as The Lodamese Boys. The 'Boys switched from Punk to Hip Hop when their first record was now well-received. Their first LP as a hip hop band sold 500,000 copies and launched the Lodamese Boys as widely known Hip Hop Artists. Other artists from the "Old School"-sampling era include Erik Boxer and Rasheed, Egelion group De La Spiritu, MC Rev and LQK and Kalistani political act Most Wanted who combined potent Left-Wing political lyrics and some of the most innovative sonic production in the Old School. The Old School method of sampling ran its course when Hip Hop producers ended up being sued in a number of countries for blatent copyright infringement, as court after court ruled that sampling producers did not give proper credit for the music they synthesized. A rapid decline in sampling beats and snippets from songs also led to a period of decline in quality of Hip Hop after 3900, as Old School was replaced by New School and consisted almost completely of producer created beats which leaned once more on synthesizers and drum machines. In the New School, there were a few great acts, but a lot of mediocre ones. Most of the mediocrity was generated, ironically, as a result of Hip Hop's breaking into the mainstream and being accepted, finally by a more affluent audience. Hip Hop content was now being driven by market demand. Moving out of the cities and into the more affluent suburbs, the market for Hip Hop demanded that artists talk less about uncomfortable social issues, like violence and economic and social inequality in cities, and more about materialism, associated with club culture. Hip Hop retained its artistic integrity only in the Underground: Mainstream artists, who actively tried to court mass audiences, sold millions of records and made tens of millions for their record companies, though the artists still only ever saw a fraction of that money. New School acts who maintained integrity included SaShan and M-Boogie, The Trunk from Ibutho, and Olde Cyprus Hill from Kalistan. Each of these bands famously rejected multi-million LOD contracts in favor of either independent production, or limited distribution deals. Of the New School, SaShan is widely viewed as the best MC, far better in his day that much more famous MCs who were his contemporaries, in nearly all categories. True underground Hip Hop actually saw a Renaissance between 4100 and 4150, and for a while, Hip Hop seemed to be on the verge of reclaiming its roots of social consciousness and excellent production quality. The renaissance was short lived, however, and by 4210, Hip Hop was reclaimed by relatively wealthy suburban kids who ensured that the lyrical content was rewatered down and focused almost exclusively on club culture and alcohol, while the production techniques were genericified. The 4300s saw the rise of D Rap in New Endralon and Artania. The development of D Rap shows the continued vitality and versatility of the subgenre. Electronica Today 4100-Present Today, Electronica remains alive and well, and takes a number of forms, all of which are widely enjoyed by the people of Terra. EDM By far, the most common form of true electronica is Electronic Dance Music, or "EDM". EDM has been around since the beginning of Electronica, and served as the reference point for almost all developments in Electronica. Today, EDM retains a lot of the elements which made Disco so popular, but as recording techniques have changed since the days of disco, producers are no longer front and center. Today's EDM concerts are dominated by DJs, who utilize computer editing software to piece riffs together. Into this mix, elements of Dub and Reggae, themselves descendants of Electronica, are regular added, including deep bass elements, audio delay, and toasting common in Dancehall Reggae. EDM is popular in clubs and finds a home on Pop Radio in the Rhythmic Top 40 format. It remains the most popular form of Electronica. Retro-Futurism EDM itself have undergone evolution in the form of RF. Born in Kalistan, RF utilizes EDM aesthetic, and focuses on sexuality and esoteric topics such as space and time travel. YingPop and K-Pop Another set of offshoots of Electronica is known as Yingdalan Pop, or simply YingPop, which is common in Indrala, and Kyo-Pop or K-Pop which is enjoyed in Dankuk. Both feature local artists almost exclusive, with music which is upbeat, draws from Pop music, reggae, traditional, rock and Hip Hop to create sounds unique to their respective national origins. Themes in YingPop revolve around Indralan Culture and is often viewed as a method that Indrala spreads influence in Dovani and Selaya. Notable Electronica Artists Given Electronica's long history and wide acceptance among the people of Terra, this list is exceptionally abbreviated and quite incomplete: Electronica/RF *Tom "Bones" Davidson *George Moore *Kelly Minelli *Angst Experience *Men Are Always Ready Somewhere *Louisie Sue and Dave Funk *Funk Fusion Collective *The Bootzillas *The Jim Gray Band *Assembly Funkdaemonious *Rick James *Chaka Ming and Goofus Disco *Joanna Winters *The Brothers Girrard *The People *The Funk Brothers Rap/Hip Hop *DJ Prodigy and the Reckless 6 *Ibutho Nation *MC Richard D and DJ Douglas Fresca *The Lodamese Boys *Erik Boxer and Rasheed *De La Spiritu *MC Rev and LQK *Most Wanted *SaShan *M-Boogie *Olde Cyprus Hill *The Trunk *Yoshimi 6 RF *Devon and Waterfall *12-Second Toaster *Das Crack *Syn-Biosis D Rap *Mad Marku *Scream 16 *Mad Slit *Mad Yardley *Boy Gon' Let 'Em Have It *Ten Go YangPop *Huang Yao *B.A.M. *Cheng Feiyu *Boys on the Move External Articles Category:Music Category:Music genres